Trading Hearts
by squigglestheredpanda
Summary: After Serena returns home from becoming the Pokemon League Champion, Shauna wants to trade Pokemon with her. Boutiqueshipping oneshot.


It's going to be okay, Shauna told herself. Nothing had changed about Serena and absolutly nothing had changed about Shauna. They were best friends and best friends traded pokemon all the time.

In spite of this, Shauna couldn't help but worry. There was a part of Shauna that knew that this trade was much more than one of friendship; that Shauna saw this as a gesture of love. What if Serena didn't feel the same way and she saw through Shauna's trade? Their relationship had been a questionable one ever since the fireworks. On top of that, they hadn't seen each other since the parade that was held in their honor. Any chemistry that may or may not have developed between the two could have easily evaporated. Serena had been all over Kalos on her victory tour. She had been to so many parties and met so many people. Any one of them could have replaced Shauna.

Shauna was pretty forgettable anyway. What with Tierno and his dancing, Trevor and his almost full pokedex, and Calem with his fantastic battling skills, Shauna was nothing; just the girl that cheered everybody else on and sat back while they all achieved great things. There was nothing that set her apart from all the other mediocre trainers of the world. Serena, on the other hand, was so special. She was amazing at everything she attempted to do in the pokemon world.

Shauna was definitly overthinking this. Champion and Savior of Kalos or not, Shauna was still one of Serena's best friends. They had started their journeys together and they supported each other through it all. Becoming Champion wasn't going to change that. No matter how many Lumiose parties Serena went to or how many legendary pokemon she captured, Serena was still Serena. She didn't do anything to be famous; Serena did what she did because it was right and to make her into a better pokemon trainer. Shauna loved that about her. Serena didn't care about the fame, Serena cared about her pokemon.

Speaking of Serena, Shauna had almost made it to her house. Shauna took a deep breath. It was now or never. She pulled a pokeball off of her belt and threw it. A newborn Chespin sprang out in a shower of red sparks. "Hi, Chester!" Shauna greeted him. "I've got something for ya." Shauna reached a hand into her bag and it came back out holding a shiny heart-shaped stone. "Do you think this is going too far?" She asked. Chester squeaked out "Chespin" in response and looked at Shauna with bright eyes. "You're right," Shauna said. "She's either going to return my feelings or not. And she may not get my hint anyway. You can give friends hearts too after all. This will just turn out the same as any of my other almost advances if it doesn't turn out better than them." Shauna bent down and held the heart scale out to Chester. "Now, Chester, you're going to go to a very very special friend of mine and I want you to give this to her when she meets you." Chester eagerly took it in his hands and Shauna returned him to his pokeball. "Thanks, Chester. I hope you and Serena can become great friends!"

With the gates to Vaniville in her line of sight Shauna started skipping towards them, using this to burn off the extra energy her excitement gave her. The gates opened for her and before Shauna knew it, she was standing in front of Serena's door in the same fashion that their adventures began together and just like the day their adventures began, the door opened and Serena came out before Shauna got the chance to build up the courage to knock on the door.

"Serene!" Shauna squealed.

"Hey, Shauny!" Serena greeted, pulling Shauna into a tight hug.

The hug surprised Shauna, but she wasn't going to complain. Serena's hugs were the best. She returned the gesture gleefully.

Serena pulled out of the hug. "It's been so long!" she gushed. "So what brings you to my neck of the woods?"

The words started gushing out faster than Shauna could think them. "Well, Serene, I figured since you're going to be busy with Champion business and all, I figured you wouldn't have much time to see your friends anymore, for a while until all the hype dies down at least, so I wanted something to make me think of you and when I trade pokemon with someone, their pokemon reminds me of them so I was hoping that maybe we could trade pokemon so we would have something to remind us of each other as friends. So would you like to trade pokemon with me?"

Serena placed a hand on Shauna's arm. "Easy there, Shauny. You don't have to talk so fast," Serena giggled. "So you want to trade pokemon with me?"

"I would love to! If you don't mind of course, Serene."

"Well, Shauny, I would love to," Serena started. "But the truth is that, um, I just don't have any pokemon I want to trade away right now."

Upon those words, Shauna's heart sunk, but she wasn't going to let Serena see it. Friends are allowed to turn down trades and there's nothing wrong with that. They were friends. Even if they were nothing else, they were friends. She allowed herself a split second to recover and then responded, cheery as ever. "I totally understand, Serene! You don't have to if you don't want to."

"I'm so glad you do, Shauny," Serena told her. "But I was actually on my way to meet with Professor Sycamore, so I have to be going now."

"Oh of course, you busy Champion of Kalos you," Shauna teased her.

"I will be happy if I never hear that phrase again, to be perfectly honest," Serena giggled. She tossed a pokeball into their air and a Salamence came out snarling. "To Lumiose City please, Salamence." Serena hopped on top of the dragon pokemon and called down to Shauna as it flew off, "It was fantastic seeing you again, Shauny. We'll have to spend more time together next time!"

"You bet, Serene!" Shauna called out. "It should definitely be longer next time," she muttered once the girl of her dreams was out of sight.

Shauna threw Chester's pokeball and the Chespin came out excited to greet whoever was there. "Sorry, Chester things didn't work out exactly right," she told the pokemon.

"Ches pin-pin!" Chester squeaked as it walked towards Shauna, holding the heart scale high for Shauna to pick it up.

Shauna giggled at Chester's cuteness. "That's all right. You can keep it for now," she told the Chespin. "I was hoping to give it to someone, but I don't think that's going to happen."

She returned Chester to his pokeball and left Vaniville Town on foot.

A week later, Shauna got a surprising call on her Halo Caster. She answered it and Serena's face appeared in front of her.

"Hi, Shauna," Serena greeted.

"Hey, Serene!" Shauna greeted back. "How have you been?"

"Just fine. I've been super busy this past week."

"Gee I bet you have been! The duties as Champion never run out huh?"

"No they don't, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"What did you want to talk to me about, Serene?"

"Can you meet me at the top of Prism Tower? I have something that I want to ask you."

"Of course! I'm in Lumiose now so I can be there in a jiffy!"

"Great! I'll see you in a few minutes then. Bye, Shauny!"

Shauna hung up, pocketed her halo caster, and went on her way.

She hadn't heard from Serena since the day she turned down the trade. Shauna desperately hoped that that wouldn't make things awkward between them. It shouldn't have made things awkward after all. Friends traded pokemon all the time right? Shauna kept trying to convince herself of that. She loved having a best girlfriend to go along with all the boys and wanted to keep Serena as her best friend if she couldn't have Serena as her real girlfriend.

Outside, it was the perfect time to be in the City, especially to be at the top of Prism Tower. Evening was just starting to set in. The cloudless sky was in gorgeous hues of pink and blue and there were just a few stars out. There was a slight breeze in the air, making it the perfect temperature outside. Prism Tower was all light up casting a gorgeous glow over the entire city.

Shauna entered the gym from the south entrance and was greeted by Bonnie and Clemont.

"There is someone waiting for you at the top of the tower," Bonnie told her with a wink.

"I didn't know that you and Serena were seeing each other," Clemont said.

"Oh, we're not seeing each other," Shauna insisted. "It's not like that between us." Unfortunately Shauna added in her head.

"You could have fooled me," the nerdy leader told her. "The top of Prism Tower at this time of the night is a popular spot for lovers and Serena looked incredibly dapper –oh!"

The gym leader was hunched over clutching his stomach from the sharp punch that Bonnie's little fist had dealt him.

"You might want to head on up, Shauna," Bonnie told her. "Serena's waiting for you."

"Okay," Shauna told them. "Bye!"

Shauna left the bewildering pair to hop on the hidden elevator that went straight to the top of Prism Tower. It was reserved for those that worked at the tower, trainers that had defeated Clemont, and friends, Shauna being one of the latter.

That was strange, Shauna thought. They seemed to be hiding something, but Shauna couldn't figure it out. They mentioned Serena and romance, but those things didn't go together. At least, they never have before. Why should they start now?

Shauna stepped off of the elevator to a gorgeous sight. Night had fully overtaken the city and Shauna was high enough to see the lights from every building in Lumiose glimmering below.

"Hello, Shauna."

Shauna followed the voice to a gorgeous girl standing on the edge of the balcony. "Serena!" she greeted. "You look fantastic!"

Serena's honey-colored hair was out of her usual ponytail and flowing down her back. She was wearing a pink and black dress that sparkled like the lights below them.

"Thanks," she said modestly.

Shauna joined her next to the railing. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

Serena took a few steps closer to Shauna and looked her in the eyes. "You remember that trade you wanted to make with me last week?"

Shauna nodded.

Serena took a deep breath and continued. "Well I didn't make it with you because I didn't want to trade with you; I didn't make it with you because I wanted it to be special."

As she was saying that, a splash of color popped into the sky with a sharp hissing noise. Shauna looked to the sky with a gasp as a fireworks show began to take place. She hadn't seen fireworks this gorgeous since that night at Parfum Palace so many months ago. "Wow," Shauna said.

"Do you like them?" Serena asked.

Shauna took Serena's hand, finally beginning to understand everything. "I love them."

Serena looked Shauna in the eye. "Then will you trade pokemon with me? If you still have the pokemon that you were going to trade with me, that is."

"Of course I still have him!" Shauna said letting Serena's hand go to hold up Chester's pokeball. She threw it and the Chespin popped out. "His name is Chester. Chester, I want you to meet your new trainer, Serena."

"Chespin!" Chester squealed as her walked towards Serena holding up the heart scale.

Serena bent down and gently took it out of his paws. "Thank you, Chester. You're going to make a fantastic partner."

Chester gleefully jumped into Serena's arms to which she giggled and started petting his quills. Serena played with Chester for another moment and returned him to his pokeball. She took a good look at the heart scale that was handed to her. "I'm going to hold onto this forever, you know," she told Shauna.

Shauna giggled. "That was the point, silly!"

"Well, I'm very glad for it. I hope you like your new friend just as much as I like mine." Serena handed her a particular-looking pokeball.

Shauna observed it closely. It was pink and had hearts on it. "I've never seen a ball like this before. It's so cute!"

"Just like you," Serena told her. "It's called a love ball. We have them in Unova. They're used to catch pokemon the opposite gender of the pokemon you're using to battle. People catch pokemon in them to trade to their crushes."

"So does that make me your crush?" Shauna asked, blushing for the first time this evening.

Serena took a long time to answer. "I was hoping that it would make you my girlfriend."

"Really? You want to date me?"

"Of course I do, silly!"

"You want to be my girlfriend?"

"Yes!"

"And I get to be your girlfriend?"

"Yes!"

"So we're dating now?"

Serena giggled. "What am I going to have to do for you to believe me?"

"I'm probably never going to believe you," Shauna told her.

"Well maybe this will help," Serena said wrapping her arms around the smaller girl.

Shauna laid her head against Serena's shoulder and took a deep breath of her scent. She smelled like fireworks and freshly picked pecha berries and everything that's good in the world.

Serena pulled back just enough to look into Shauna's eyes. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this," She told Shauna.

"Less time than I've been waiting for it, I bet," the other girl replied. Every single thing about this felt right. Shauna had just the right amount of butterflies and Serena's arms were perfectly encased around her.

"No matter which one waited longer, this was definitly worth the wait," Serena said bringing her face down to the other girl's so that their foreheads touched.

Shauna wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's neck and giggled. "Definitly."

As another firework went off with a bang that vibrated the tower, Serena pressed her lips to Shauna's.

Shauna had had plenty of kisses before, but this one was different. Not just because it was with a girl; not just because it was at the most romantic place Shauna had ever been. This kiss was sweet and warm and there were sparks going off both inside and outside of Shauna's head. It was full of hope and happiness and rainbows and Shauna wanted to be kissed like this forever.

They finally pulled away for air and Shauna threw the love ball. "Eevee!" proclaimed a furry fox-like pokemon.

"ITS SO CUTE!" Shauna exclaimed. She picked it up and started petting it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Eevee. I hope we can become great friends!"

"So you like it?" Serena asked.

"I LOVE it."

Serena planted a small kiss on her girlfriend's cheek. "I was hoping that you would."

Shauna kissed her lightly on the lips. "I do."

Serena gestured to a bench on their side of the balcony. "So, girlfriend, would you care to sit down with me and enjoy the rest of this beautiful fireworks spectacular that I managed to convince the owner of Parfum Palace to put on for us?"

Shauna giggled and sat down on the bench. "Did you just say the owner of Parfum Palace? How did you swing that?"

Serena "Oh it was quite the excruciating negotiation, but I believe I have come out of the ordeal victorious. In exchange for this performance, I was to breed his precious Furfrou with my champion Venusaur."

"But you can't breed a Furfrou with a Venusaur, they're in different egg groups, aren't they?"

"As the day care couple informed him after a day spent in the daycare. He then missed his precious Furfrou so much that he decided to put on a spectacular show for him on our very own Prism Tower. The Furfrou is on the balcony below us with Bonnie and Clemont."

Shauna laughed. "And my smart girlfriend predicted that whole thing and set up this fantastic date on the same day as this show."

"I hope you don't mind that we're technically crashing someone else's party."

Shauna rested her head against Serena's shoulder. "As long as I'm with you, every party is for us."

Serena put one arm around her girlfriend and let Chester back out of his pokeball with the other.

The girls huddled together with a pokemon on either side watching the fireworks.

"So what are you going to evolve your Eevee into?"

"I don't know. I'll lover her no matter what she becomes."

"Just like I love you."

Shauna was quiet for a bit. "You know what, Serena?"

"What?"

"This is my favorite memory of our entire journey."

Serena planted a kiss on Shauna's forehead. "Mine too."


End file.
